Israel indicts ex-minister Lieberman

ISRAEL'S former foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has been formally indicted on charges of breach of trust and fraud, allegations that could hurt his political future if he is convicted.

Lieberman resigned earlier this month after he was informed of the pending charges. The Justice Ministry later revised the wording, though not the charges, and said it filed the indictment in a Jerusalem court on Sunday.

Lieberman is accused of advancing a former ambassador after he relayed information to the foreign minister about a criminal investigation into his business dealings. Lieberman denies wrongdoing.

His Yisrael Beiteinu party is running with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud in the January 22 election, and he is expected to serve as an MP in the next parliament.

In other political news, Israel's Supreme Court unanimously rejected an election committee's attempt to disqualify an Arab MP from running for parliament again next month because she took part in a flotilla that tried to breach Israel's naval blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

The MP, Hanin Zoabi, enraged many Israelis by joining the Turkish-led flotilla, which was stormed by Israeli naval commandos who clashed with pro-Palestinian activists, killing nine. The Israeli military says the soldiers acted in self-defence after being attacked on the deck.

Zoabi was nearly assaulted in parliament by another MP and subsequently was stripped of some of her parliamentary privileges.

Earlier this month, an Israeli elections committee voted to disqualify her from running in next month's election. She appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, which overturned it, as it has rejected the committee's attempts in previous years to bar certain Arab candidates from running.

The court said in its ruling that it would release its reason for overturning the decision at a later date. Under Israel's election law, the court had to issue its ruling by Sunday.